


Something Stupid

by vakarian_shepard



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Character Study, Sort of? - Freeform, ding dong the dragon gong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 02:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8648023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vakarian_shepard/pseuds/vakarian_shepard
Summary: That time everyone realized that Cousland is a force to be reckoned with. 
Or, that time everyone realized they might actually stand a chance against the Blight.





	

**Author's Note:**

> OR the first time Zevran was like....holy shit...wAIT...

She knew that Boomer hadn’t meant to run into that gong, truly. He was a good dog, just—very clumsy. It might not have even been that bad had she been closer to the door back into the ruins like the rest of the party was, but Boomer was _her dog_ and she wasn’t just going to let a giant lizard have its way with him because she was _scared_. 

The entire mountain shook, it seemed, as the dragon landed in the open space in front of the gong. Kira grabbed at Boomer before he could do anything, huddling behind the gong as the rest of her team assumedly made their escape. She peeked over the top of the instrument, watching the dragon pace irritably. When it couldn’t find the source of the noise, it roared, arching its neck and shrieking its anger to the heavens. 

Maker, it was so _big_. She hadn’t known that anything living could _be_ so big.

“ _Kira_!”

Kira felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head, eyes drawn towards where her party was standing across the way. Nadia seemed to immediately realize her error as the dragon rounded on her, as she slapped a hand over her mouth and Zevran and Alistair pulled her behind a rather large rock just in time for the dragon to breathe fire at them. Kira took the distraction to dart behind a rock closer to them, her dog (her good boy) following behind her obediently.

She understood, really, why it was angry. She didn’t like being woken up in the middle of a nap either, but it was focused now, and if she didn’t do something soon it would roast her friends alive.

Closing her eyes briefly, she took a deep, steadying breath, leaning against the rock for one, two, three seconds. She took a handful of snow, packing it into a ball before coming out from her hiding place.

“ _Hey, ugly_!” she called, throwing her snowball as hard as she could. 

It was only satisfying for half a second when the snowball landed with a resounding _thwap_ against the side of the dragon’s head, because then it was looking at _her_. She felt a little numb around the fingers, staring up at the creature as it loomed over her. It began to inhale and Kira panicked, only just managing to get back behind her rock before it unleashed its fiery breath on her. The fire wrapped around the rock, radiating pure heat as she barely managed to tuck herself in tight enough to avoid getting burned. 

Boomer had made it back to the rest of the party, apparently, thankfully, as the beast paused to take a breath. She could feel the ground shake as it stepped towards her hiding spot.

She didn’t have any good ideas, she realized as she peeked around at her party. There was no way for her to get over there without the dragon following her, and even if they managed to get away—it was awake now, and _angry_. The last thing Ferelden needed was a high dragon on a rampage in the middle of a Blight.

…Aw, hell.

“Barrier me!” she shouted to her team, pulling her swords from her back and taking a deep breath.

“What? What are you doing?” Nadia asked, even as she did as Kira asked, the faint green glow easing the knot of tension in Kira’s stomach just slightly.

Kira shook her head. What was she doing? Well…

“Something _stupid_!”

The ground was still steaming as she stepped out into the open, twirling her swords to try and loosen up her wrists. This was the stupidest thing she’d ever done in her life, she thought as the great beast leveled its glare at her, planting its feet firmly in the stone. She did the same, holding eye contact, rolling her shoulders and glaring right back, trying to look defiant and not terrified like she felt. 

_The Archdemon is a dragon_ , she reminded herself. _Think of this as a practice run._

Right…

The beast snarled, releasing a bellowing roar that Kira briefly expected would cause an avalanche. As the sound echoed across the mountaintop, something strange rose up in her chest—a new feeling, hot like iron in her ribcage and, adrenaline pounding through her veins, she roared right back, hard and angry. It was something primal fueling her now as she bounced on the balls of her feet, back and forth, ready to strike as her muscles shook a little in anticipation. Energy crackled over her skin, in the air, in her _breath_ , and it was with sudden clarity that she remembered the magic stirring somewhere in her— _suppressed_ , but there.

She felt it before she saw it, when the dragon lunged to her. She felt the air shift, and she dodged the snapping jaws with relative ease, feinting to the side. She wasn’t sure how tough its hide was, but she ran under it anyway, thrusting her sword up into its belly.

Her sword clinked uselessly against the scales, and she cursed under her breath as she darted away before the creature could catch her off guard. She continued to dodge its advances, ducking behind rocks when it felt the need to spew fire at her, getting up as quickly as possible when it used its massive wings to blow her over. She managed to cut it a few times, along its neck, and she eyed its head contemplatively as it leveled her with another predatory glare.

It was a bad idea, realistically, but she had nothing better and she couldn’t keep this up forever. Planting her feet firmly on the stone, she dared it to try another bite, smiling at it in an attempt at a taunt (even though it probably meant nothing to the overgrown lizard).

_Breathe in. It shifts its head twice before it lunges. Once…twice…MOVE!_

The powerful, snapping jaws missed her by a hair as she leapt, using one of its face spikes as a foothold as she climbed onto its head, swinging her leg over its neck so that she was sitting astride it.

Grasping her longest, strongest sword in both hands, she drew back and brought it down as hard as she could between the scales at the base of its skull.

Her blade sunk in like a knife into butter, and the dragon wailed, writhing, trying to shake her off. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her legs around its neck and twisted.

The dragon went still, then collapsed with a heavy _thud_.

The first thing Kira became aware of, through the rushing of her own pulse in her ears, was that her knees and shins had slammed into the ground really, really hard. That, however, was not the reason why her legs shook when she stood, why she collapsed back onto her knees as soon as she’d gotten off of the dragon. The adrenaline was mostly gone now, but it had left her clammy, shaky, and acutely aware of just how stupid and reckless she’d been just now. 

Her friends were being remarkably quiet, she realized after another moment, as she finally managed to push herself up onto her feet, swaying a little unsteadily as she turned towards where she’d last seen them.

Both mabaris, Alistair, Nadia, Wynne, _and_ Zevran were standing behind the same rock they’d been behind, all of them with varying expressions of shock and disbelief. 

She shook her head and grabbed the hilt of her sword still lodged in the dragon’s skull, planting one foot on its head as she pulled the sword back out. She wiped at the sweat and blood on her face with the back of her hand, still breathing a little heavily as she turned back to her still uncomfortably silent companions. She wondered if they were angry, or if they just weren’t going to talk to her anymore, when Nadia and Wynne simultaneously broke the silence.

“That was _reckless_ and _stupid_ and you should—!”

“Holy _fuck_!”

Kira laughed warmly, knees shaking a little as Wynne cut herself off to glower at the tiny elf mage who had just shouted the word _fuck_ nearly at the top of her lungs. Butch and Boomer greeted her first, as the rest of the party began to make their way over to her. Alistair was still eying the beast warily, prodding the side of its head with his sword as Wynne cupped Kira’s cheeks, fingers glowing with healing magic that had Kira sighing softly in relief. Distantly, Kira was aware that Wynne was fussing at her, but her ears were still ringing a little, so it was hard to focus for more than a second or two at a time.

Quietly, in a lull in Wynne’s motherly scolding that Kira was only half listening to—something about _dangerous_ and she should be _ashamed_ and don’t do it again—Zevran murmured, “I…have never been so turned on in all my life.”

Kira barked out a laugh just as Nadia nodded sagely and replied, “Me, too.”

Kira laughed even harder when Zevran grinned at the other Warden, only to have her frown and firmly say, “ _No_ ,” before he could say another word.

She realized she might have been a little giddy now that the danger was gone, but that didn’t stop her from sighing, “Fat lot of good you all are. I guess I’m killing the Archdemon when the time comes, yeah?”

“ _What_ were you _thinking_?” Wynne demanded, hands on her hips.

Kira shrugged. “Mostly that if we left the dragon alone now it might decide to go wreak havoc on some poor, unsuspecting villagers and the last thing Ferelden needs is a high dragon on a rampage in the middle of a Blight.”

Wynne deflated a little. “Well, that’s…very reasonable.”

Kira laughed and winked, before looking back at the dead hell beast. With another sigh, she said, “I bet it’s got a hoard of treasure around here somewhere. You guys up for a little scavenger hunt?”

**Author's Note:**

> The first of many dragons Kira will end up killing in her lifetime.


End file.
